ECM to debut conductive adhesives for back contact solar modules at PVSEC 2011

Tuesday, 8.9.2011 - 22:21 (Solarserver)

Engineered Conductive Materials, LLC, (Delaware, OH.) a global supplier of conductive interconnect materials for photovoltaic (PV) applications, will introduce its new line of conductive adhesives for back contact solar module applications in Hall A1, Stand B4 at the upcoming European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition (PVSEC). EU PVSEC is scheduled to take place September 5th -8th, 2011 at the CCH Congress Centre and International Fair in Hamburg, Germany. Read more

Sharp modules used for Cincinnati convention centre rooftop system

Tuesday, 8.9.2011 - 16:11 (PV-Tech)

Sharp Electronics? Solar Energy Solutions Group and its customer, Third Sun Solar, have completed the largest PV project in Cincinnati. The 101kW installation will power the Duke Energy Convention Center (DECC) and it is part of a conservation strategy undertaken alongside the city government. Read more

Choosing Cost Reduction Strategies for c-Si Manufacturing

Tuesday, 8.9.2011 - 15:00 (Renewable Energy World)

There is something disconcerting about going through a speed-trap at 100mph and not breaking any laws. No flash, no flashing blue lights, just a high-speed procession of cars past an inactive radar camera. This is very typical of Germany, a country that will accept costly new technologies under certain circumstances, but only when it is deemed necessary and popular. The rapid adoption of solar photovoltaics (PV) is broadly seen as necessary in Germany (although not without spirited discussion), and it is for this reason they have been in the vanguard of the PV industry. Read more

Enel Green Power completes three new PV plants in Italy adding 14.3MW to its solar portfolio

Tuesday, 8.9.2011 - 23:47 (PV-Tech)

Enel Green Power commissioned three new solar power plants in Italy, the largest of which is the 9MW Adrano plant in the Catania, Sicily province. The project sits on the same site that the company installed the first concentrated solar power plant in 1981. Installation was additionally completed on a 4.8MW plant in San Gillio and a 500kW plant in Sesto Campano. Together the three plants hold an installed capacity of 14.3MW and will generate 21,000,000kWh of electricity per year. Read more

Natcore Technology takes delivery of its first LPD tool for AR coatings on solar PV cells

Tuesday, 8.9.2011 - 23:30 (PV-Tech)

Natcore Technology revealed that it had received its first intelligent processing station, the AR-Box, which will be used for the liquid phase deposition (LPD) process to grow antireflective (AR) coatings on silicon wafers. Housed at the company?s R&D center in the Kodak Eastman Business Park in New York, installation and testing are anticipated to be completed by September 9. Read more

Solarbuzz report sees US PV market doubling in 2011 due to lower module prices, incentives

Tuesday, 8.9.2011 - 22:33 (PV-Tech)

According to Solarbuzz?s new ?United States PV Market Report?, the country?s PV market is set to double in the second half of 2011. While other industries fight to control their economic woes, incentives and policies at the federal, state and local government level have bolstered the US PV market over the past year leading Solarbuzz to predict that the country will become the third-largest solar PV market, behind Germany and Italy, in 2011. Read more

Real Goods Solar announces financing program for commercial solar installations

Tuesday, 8.9.2011 - 22:21 (Solarserver)

Real Goods Solar, Inc. (Boulder, Colo.), a residential and commercial solar energy EPC provider, on August 4th, 2011 announced a new financing program between Alteris Renewables and KeyBanc Capital Markets, the investment banking arm of KeyCorp to fund commercial solar photovoltaic (PV) installations. This new financing alternative will allow Real Goods Solar to be more competitive in the market and provide host customers with a truly seamless process, the company emphasizes in a press release. Read more

GT Solar completes name change to GT Advanced Technologies

Tuesday, 8.9.2011 - 22:20 (Solarserver)

GT Advanced Technologies Inc., (Merrimack, N.H.), on August 8th, 2011 announced that the name change from GT Solar to its new name, GT Advanced Technologies Inc., is now complete. As part of the rebranding and new corporate identity, the company is now trading under its new GTAT stock ticker symbol on NASDAQ. Read more

Concentrating solar power: GE to Invest up to USD 40 Million in eSolar

Tuesday, 8.9.2011 - 22:19 (Solarserver)

eSolar (Burbank, Calif.), developer of modular, scalable concentrating solar thermal power technology (CSP), on August 8th, 2011 announced that in addition to its licensing agreement with GE Energy, GE (Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.) has closed a strategic investment in the company. As part of the deal Paul Browning, president and CEO of Thermal Products, for GE Energy, will join the eSolar board of directors. Read more

REC Solar adds modules to existing and new projects VA hospitals

Tuesday, 8.9.2011 - 19:27 (PV-Tech)

REC Solar has been awarded new contracts for VA hospitals in California and Texas that total 6.6MW. A 4MW addition is planned for an existing 5MW array at the West Los Angeles Medical Center, bringing that total system size to 9MW, which makes it the largest installed solar energy system nationwide for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). A 2.6MW installation is also planned at the Central Texas Veterans Health Care System in Temple, Texas, which includes a 1.7MW ballasted ground mount structure sited on a reclaimed capped landfill owned by the VA. Read more

First Solar and SunPower agree to greater environmental consideration costs on two- huge PV plants

Tuesday, 8.9.2011 - 18:47 (PV-Tech)

Two separate, but significantly-sized PV power plant projects planned for in the San Luis Obispo County region of California by First Solar and SunPower have agreed to greater environmental considerations and subsequently higher but yet identified costs to enable the go ahead of the projects. Read more

First Solar and SunPower agree to greater environmental consideration costs on two huge PV plants

Tuesday, 8.9.2011 - 18:47 (PV-Tech)

Two separate but significantly-sized PV power plant projects planned for the San Luis Obispo County region of California by First Solar and SunPower have agreed to greater environmental considerations and subsequently higher but yet identified costs to enable the go-ahead of the projects. Read more

ReneSola cuts capital spending: withdraws full year financial guidance as margins evaporate

Tuesday, 8.9.2011 - 16:06 (PV-Tech)

A key low-cost wafer supplier, ReneSola produced weakening financial results across all key metrics for the second quarter of 2011. Shipments, revenue and margins were impacted by weak demand and declining prices due to overcapacity in the PV supply chain. ReneSola reported solar product (wafers & module) shipments of 295.5MW, compared to 330.4MW in Q1 2011. Revenue was US$249.3 million, a decrease of 30.6% from US$359.2 million in Q1 2011, while gross margin was 18.4%, compared to 28.2% in the previous quarter. Guidance for the third quarter was characterised by increased product shipments but weaker revenue and declining gross margins. Read more

California: NRG Solar, Eurus commission 45 MW Avenal PV facility

Tuesday, 8.9.2011 - 13:38 (Solarserver)

On August 7th, 2011 NRG Solar (Princeton, New Jersey, U.S.) and Eurus Energy America Corporation (San Diego, California, U.S.) announced that they have begun commercial operations at the 45 MW Avenal Solar Generating Facility, 97 kilometers South of Fresno, California. The Avenal Park, Sun City and Sand Drag plants comprise the Avenal facility, which NRG states is the largest operational solar photovoltaic (PV) facility in California. Read more

IHS iSuppli: California to continue to lead nation in solar power installations

Tuesday, 8.9.2011 - 13:07 (Solarserver)

Blessed with abundant sunshine and a supportive political structure, California is positioned to add 7.5 gigawatts (GW) of installed power from photovoltaic (PV) sources during the period of 2010 to 2015, further ensuring that the state remains America?s leading light in solar energy, according to new insights from the IHS iSuppli Photovoltaic Service from information and analysis provider IHS (El Segundo, Calif.). Installed PV capacity in California due to IHS is projected to reach 967 megawatts (MW) this year, the highest in the country and part of an increasing push by the most populous U.S. state to derive a greater portion of energy from renewable sources, a mix that Read more

Chinese PV producer JA Solar reports negative margins in preliminary 2Q 2011 results

Tuesday, 8.9.2011 - 12:56 (Solarserver)

On August 8th, 2011, JA Solar Holdings Company Ltd. (Shanghai, China), announced preliminary unaudited financial results for the second quarter of 2011. The company reported shipments of 400 MW, in line with its previously announced shipment guidance, and a gross margins in "a negative low single digit range". Read more

Activ Solar connects first phase of 80MW Ukrainian solar plant to grid

Tuesday, 8.9.2011 - 12:55 (PV-Tech)

Activ Solar has completed the first two phases of its record-breaking 80MW PV project in Ukraine. When all four stages are completed, the power station, located on 160 acres of land in Ohotnikovo, will be the fourth largest development in the world. Read more

Activ Solar completes first phases of 80MW Ukrainian solar plant

Tuesday, 8.9.2011 - 12:55 (PV-Tech)

Activ Solar has completed the first two phases of its record-breaking 80MW PV project in Ukraine. When all four stages are completed, the power station, located on 160 acres of land in Ohotnikovo, will be the fourth largest development in the world. Read more

Georgia Power purchases only 4.4 MW of PV, despite "peak load" offset benefits of solar

Tuesday, 8.9.2011 - 12:49 (Solarserver)

Georgia Power Company (Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.) has reported that it has purchased only 4.4 MW of electricity from solar photovoltaic (PV) plants in its most recent integrated resource plan, presented to state regulators on August 4th, 2011. A day later on August 5th, 2011, the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and the Texas Renewable Energy Alliance (TREA) commented that solar power plants could help reduce the strain on Texas' grid from increased demand from air conditioning due to high temperatures. Read more

GCL-Poly to supply Realforce with 4.2 GW of solar wafers

Tuesday, 8.9.2011 - 12:39 (Solarserver)

On August 1st, 2011, GCL-Poly Energy Holdings Ltd. (Hong Kong, China) announced that it has signed an agreement to supply Realforce Power Company Ltd. (Jining, China) with 4.2 GW of silicon wafer products over the next six years. GCL-Poly will supply the wafers from July 2011 to December 2016, and a price adjustment mechanism has been included in the contract. Read more

GE Energy to invest US$40 million in eSolar

Tuesday, 8.9.2011 - 11:52 (PV-Tech)

GE Energy is to consolidate its business partnership with eSolar by investing US$40 million in the concentrated solar thermal power technology developer. As part of the agreement, Paul Browning, GE Energy?s president and CEO of Thermal Products, will join eSolar?s board of directors. Read more

aleo solar lowers forecast for 2011; international sales reduce revenue fall

Tuesday, 8.9.2011 - 11:29 (PV-Tech)

aleo solar?s revenue in the first-half of 2011, only fell 16.2% compared with the first six months of 2010, due to shifting sales to international markets as the German market was weak. Revenue reached ?232.0 million, compared to ?277.0 million in the first six months of 2010. However, EBIT margin plummeted to 1.5%, compared to 10.6% in the same period in 2010. The company cited a 50% decline in factory utilization at recently installed new capacity and ?rigid pricing policies? from solar cell manufacturers in the first quarter of the year for the margin collapse. Read more

Barron Partners launches solar project developer/installer firm Soltas Energy

Tuesday, 8.9.2011 - 1:19 (PV-Tech)

Andrew Barron Worden, founder and CEO of private equity firm Barron Partners, revealed that the equity firm had recently created Soltas Energy by fusing Barron Partners? regional solar EPC/project developers. The company is to be a medium for financing solar projects and allowing the equity firm to take ownership positions in regional solar development and installation companies. Read more

NREL seeks input from solar PV developers on trends in project financing

Tuesday, 8.9.2011 - 0:51 (PV-Tech)

The US Department of Energy?s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is putting out a call to all energy developers and financiers to submit their input on renewable financing terms, which will help the NREL in its effort to collect and share quantitative data in order to evaluate obstacles in the development of renewable energy projects. Read more

BrightSource submits certification application to CEC for 500MW CSP solar power plant in California

Tuesday, 8.9.2011 - 0:24 (PV-Tech)

BrightSource Energy has submitted an Application for Certification (AFC) with the California Energy Commission (CEC), which calls for the construction of a 500MW solar project in Inyo County, California. The Hidden Hills Solar Electric Generating System (SEGS), located on 3,280 acres of privately owned land next to the California and Nevada border, will consist of two, 250MW solar thermal power plants, which will each have its own solar field and solar power tower. The two CSP plants will generate power for Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) under two PPA?s that were approved by the California Public Utilities Commission in 2010. Read more

Microalgal Biofuel: Is it the Right Dream?

Tuesday, 8.9.2011 - 14:15 (Renewable Energy World)

Algae are the simplest and oldest photosynthetic organisms on Earth. Their simple structure allows them to convert solar energy into chemical energy efficiently. Earth's first form of life now holds the potential to become the next major energy source and a vital part of the solution to climate change, food security and fossil fuel dependence. Read more

Steve Iyer appointed VP of development for 8minutenergy Renewables

Tuesday, 8.9.2011 - 23:02 (PV-Tech)

Steve Iyer will be joining the executive team of 8minutenergy Renewables as its new vice president of development. With 23 years of experience in developing large-scale power generation projects throughout North America, Europe and Asia, Iyer will focus on end-to-end project development for originated projects. Additionally, he will oversee that 8minutenergy?s developed projects undergo a seamless transition to the company?s partners. Iyer will also be tasked to assist with sourcing from Asia and risk identification and management. Read more

Government commission urges greater use of renewables in Chile

Tuesday, 8.9.2011 - 22:20 (Solarserver)

On August 1st, 2011, a new commission made up of Chilean academics, technical experts, environmental NGOs and parliamentarians published an initial analysis of the nation's electricity system. In the report, the Citizen's Parliamentary Commission on Energy (CCPE) states that greater adoption of renewables can lower energy costs for the nation, and the Commission has urged the government to adopt a more sustainable generation mix. Read more

Andean nations prepare for regional electricity market

Tuesday, 8.9.2011 - 12:36 (Solarserver)

On August 5th, 2011, the Andean Community announced that member nations have made progress towards interconnection of electricity grids and the creation of a regional energy market. As a first step, regulatory bodies in these nations have come to an agreement to provide for transitional agreements to allow an electricity trade between Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. Read more